Doubters of financial education make four great points but reach the wrong conclusion every time. Is it really possible that dozens of nations, thousands of nonprofits and tens of thousands of educators are wrong to want to teach kids about money in school? That’s what critics would have us believe. Certainly there is room for skepticism, and consensus thinking isn’t always right after all. Yet crowd thinking usually has a solid foundation. What started as a given less than two decades ago (if you teach it they will…

CONFERENCES | EXHIBITIONS | INDUSTRY AWARDS Education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality, and lays a foundation for sustained economic growth. This is no truer than in sub-Saharan Africa where poverty is high and opportunities plentiful. In South Africa alone 20 percent of annual government expenditure is invested in education, amounting to R254-billion. Spintelligent’s Education portfolio comprises of industry leading events, African EduWeek and Career Indaba. The Education portfolio holds a unique media partnership agreement with national and international broadcaster Mutlichoice, to provide unprecedented…

Reaching out to women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid requires more than merely ensuring access to ICTs and broadband networks. Women need training to become digitally literate. Digital literacy training opens the door to other essential skills needed to operate in a broadband environment, including financial literacy skills, as well as career training and ICT-enabled career training. Such training enables women to set up online businesses, or to use broadband services, such as social networking sites, to enhance their ongoing livelihood and economic activity. ITU has developed…

Think back to the last team project you participated in at work. How did the person running the project lead the group? Did they lead by presenting a plan and using their authority to insist that others follow along? Or did the person instead lead by explaining why a particular course of action seemed like the best one, allowing others to willfully get on board? These two leadership styles, which I and other researchers refer to as dominance and prestige, respectively, reflect two fundamental strategies people use to navigate their…

CAPE TOWN – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will deliver his annual Budget speech in Parliament on Wednesday evening. But for Gordhan and his team it will be a tough budget to deliver against the backdrop of a rumoured cabinet reshuffle – with him and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas’s heads said to be on the chopping block. The rand extended its losses against the dollar on Tuesday ahead of Gordhan’s annual speech. The nomination of former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe to Parliament added to speculation of an imminent reshuffle‚ sending the…

ITU releases 2016 ICT figures ICT services getting more affordable – but more than half the world’s population still not using the Internet ICT for Sustainable Development Geneva, 22 July 2016 New data released today by ITU, the UN specialized agency for information and communication technology (ICT), show that 3.9 billion people remain cut-off from the vast resources available on the Internet, despite falling prices for ICT services. ICT Facts & Figures 2016 shows that developing countries now account for the vast majority of Internet users, with 2.5 billion users…